Our old friend, uber-hyped US interior decorator Miles Redd apparently designed this Manhattan apartment for a young couple with kids. And yes, the love children of Marie Antoinette and Santa would probably feel quite at home here.
Miles, honey, there are, however, a few things I feel I need to point out.
a) Just because your surname is ‘Redd’, it doesn’t mean that firetruck red is necessarily the most calming or even attractive colour for interiors. And believe me, interiors containing kids need calming.
b) I know you’re American, but that still doesn’t make firetruck red, cobalt blue and stark white a particularly appealing colour palette. Or were eyepopping primary colours your one concession to the ‘kids’ thing?
c) I know you can’t be expected to know much about kids, but surely even a young gay man about town knows that lots of tchotchkes/knickknacks + silk upholstery and curtains + felt wall coverings does not an entirely kid-friendly environment make. I suspect they have a very ferocious nanny.
Good to see that Miles hasn’t yet given up on hideous animal pictures
d) Have you realised yet that it’s the 21st century? The only thing that isn’t either an antique or some dreadful piece of repro is the kid’s Ikea bed.
Nice Ikea bed. Actually this room isn’t that bad.
I like the walls and colour palette in here. It’s all a bit granny’s old bloomers though.
No, you can’t even escape the red by going to the bathroom. And no Miles hasn’t given up on whimsical animal prints either. But I do quite like the wallpaper.
Miles takes the American obsession with table lamps to new heights by incorporating them in the kitchen. This is the nicest room in the house though.
Elle Decor US calls the apartment an ‘ode to 30s elegance’. I have noticed that in a US decorating context ‘elegant’ does not signify ‘quiet, spare, refined beauty in an Audrey Hepburnesque way’ as I used to think of it in the UK. Instead, it is code for ‘we added as many frills and furbelows and trims and ornaments and shiny things and golden bits and things we think might look French as we possibly could before the credit card exploded’.
What do you all think?
I saw this in Elle decor too and said “What in God’s name is this doing in here?” There is way too much ugly going on. The only redeeming thing was the metallic paint treatment in the bedroom but it was far from enough to save this eyesore!
You are right on about red, white and blue. They are not colors in which to live comfortably, no matter what kind of political statement you want to make with your decorating. You are also dead right about the meaning of elegance, of which I see none in these pictures.
Gotta say, I could give a crap about kid-friendlyness, but I am not a fan of big bold walls, ESPECIALLY more than one. Sometimes I love Miles’ designs, but sometimes they are way too much, especially with the painted walls, crap on the mantle, and horns.
Love the Schalmandare (SP? That’s TOTALLY wrong, but it’s something like that) wallpaper; I like the kiddy room w/ the dump truck in it, but the funniest thing is that the horse picture reminds me of the one of Tony Soprano and Pie-Oh-My (RIP) that Paulie Walnuts took out of the dumpster and had himself painted into.
Surely kid-friendliness is important in a house with KIDS? Otherwise I could give a crap too. But given that my daughter has just managed to douse my curvy pink rocking chair with a huge great red pomegranate juice stain, I was immensely grateful that it had a dry-cleanable removable cover on it, and wasn’t permanently upholstered in silk.
But anyway, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find a room by Miles that you LOVE, so we can do a ‘Go Love Your Room’ on it. I’ve never seen a Miles yet that doesn’t make we want to poke out my eyes…